BYBOTE Chapter 23: Falling in Love

 Previous | Table of Contents | Next 


Xi Yanqing was momentarily stunned but quickly caught up. He grabbed Luo Fei’s hand and stared at him, motionless.


Was this really happening? Luo Fei wasn’t pulling away!


Xi Yanqing distinctly remembered that Luo Fei used to instinctively avoid physical contact. If he was in a bad mood, he would even look annoyed. But now, he was letting him hold his hand without resistance.


Holy crap, is this a dream?!


Xi Yanqing was so overwhelmed that he couldn’t think straight. But then, he recalled something—Luo Fei had embroidered a tiger before. When Han Xu mentioned tigers that day, Luo Fei’s face had darkened immediately, as if he didn’t want to talk about it.


Could it be that… he wasn’t thinking about his cousin anymore?


No matter what, this was progress!


Xi Yanqing cleared his throat and asked the stupidest question ever:


"Are you real?"


Luo Fei, who had been feeling a little shy, immediately flared up.


"What the hell? Do you think I'm inflatable or something? You idiot!"


Xi Yanqing instantly knew: Yep, this is my little donkey!


The way Luo Fei shyly bristled was adorable beyond words. It was as if he was saying: "You big dummy! Hurry up and coax me—I’m mad!"


Xi Yanqing’s heart pounded wildly, feeling ticklish and warm, like a kitten softly pawing at his chest.


He hugged Luo Fei tightly. "Let me see if you're an inflatable doll!"


"Hey, hey! What are you doing?! It’s broad daylight!" Luo Fei’s face turned red. "Let go of me!"


"Nope! Who’s going to stop me from hugging my wife?" Xi Yanqing grinned. "Luo Fei, Luo Fei, am I dreaming?"


"No, you’re not dreaming! But you might be having a stroke!" Luo Fei huffed.


Xi Yanqing buried his face in Luo Fei’s neck and inhaled deeply. "You smell amazing. What do I do? I feel like I have infinite energy now."


"Why are you still hesitating?" Luo Fei said, "Hurry up and go fetch some water to water the vegetable garden!"


"Stop joking." Xie Yanqing laughed, his hand slowly moving across Luo Fei's back. "Watering your garden is more than enough."


"No way!" Luo Fei immediately pushed Xie Yanqing away. "If you're not going, I will go!" Damn it, how could he forget that Xie Yanqing was still thinking about the sun? But with Xie Yanqing's huge build, he was terrifying! No, he needed to stay away from him, or else things could get messy!


As soon as Luo Fei thought about the pain from his previous injuries, he lost all his courage. He might be shy, but he was definitely more scared than embarrassed.


Xie Yanqing watched with a helpless smile as Luo Fei grabbed a ladle and headed to the vegetable garden. However, he knew that there was no water in the back garden—how was Luo Fei going to fetch water?!


Well, at least he knew now that Luo Fei had some feelings for him, and that was a start. Everything else could be figured out later.


Xie Yanqing went to fetch water. When he arrived at the back garden, he saw Luo Fei walking around with the ladle, deep in thought. Xie Yanqing called out, "Luo Fei!"


Luo Fei stopped in his tracks. "What is it?"


Xie Yanqing was about to bring the water to Luo Fei, thinking he could water the vegetables while Luo Fei relaxed, when they heard a voice from the front yard. "Second Brother, Xie-ge, are you at home?"


Luo Fei, trying to avoid the awkwardness of earlier, quickly answered, "Yes! We're in the vegetable garden, come on over!"


It was Luo Ru who had come looking for them. "Second Brother, the little chickens at Aunt Pang's place are out of the nest. Mom asked if you want to buy some. If you want, you should go see them before the good ones are picked over."


Luo Fei had mentioned wanting to raise chickens, and so when Luo Ru found out that Aunt Pang was selling chicks, she came to inform him.


Their chicken and duck coops were ready, just waiting for their new inhabitants. Luo Fei immediately said, "Wait for me, I'll get some money and we'll go."


Xie Yanqing thought to himself, "Great, looks like the little duck will fly away again. I guess I'll just wait until he comes back to help 'de-feather' them, so they don't run off again."


Xie Yanqing quickly got some firewood to boil water, thinking that with the heat of the day, a nice bath before bed would be refreshing. Meanwhile, Luo Fei, upon seeing the chicks, couldn't stop himself. He wanted this one and that one! That one with the stripes was especially cute! He couldn't resist—he wanted to buy the whole batch!


Aunt Pang's two sons worked in town, so she was usually alone. In addition to farming, she raised chickens and ducks to sell. While it didn't make much money, it was something.


By the time they arrived, there were already several people at Aunt Pang's place, including Luo Fei, Luo Ru, Li Yuehua, as well as Han Xu and his mother. Soon, the neighbor, Old Lady Zhou, arrived with Qin Guizhi and Jiang Bainian, who both appeared to have something to boast about.


Luo Fei wasn't interested in dealing with those two, so he went straight to Aunt Pang. "Aunt Pang, I'll take twenty chicks. Please pick ten males and ten females."


"Want so many males?" Aunt Pang asked, surprised. Usually, people bought more females for their eggs. Males didn't have much use, after all.


"Yes, Aunt Pang. I'll keep the males for holidays to eat, and the females for eggs." Luo Fei reasoned that if the females laid eggs every three days, that would be enough for him and Xie Yanqing. Since they didn't have a refrigerator, it was better not to keep too many.


"Alright, I won't charge you less. But since you're taking so many, I'll give you one extra male. I'll get you eleven males and ten females. Is that alright?" Aunt Pang said, "But don't come back later and say I gave you the wrong ones."


"Don't worry, I'll make sure they're good," Luo Fei replied, passing over the basket he'd brought with him.


"Thank you, Aunt Pang," he added.


"Why are you thanking me? You and Xie Yanqing have been well liked since you were little," Aunt Pang replied casually. Since Xie Yanqing had once helped her move something, she decided to give Luo Fei the best ones.


"Oh, Liu Feng, why are you giving him all the best ones? We want to buy too! We came right after him, so it's not fair!" Qin Guizhi complained when she saw that Luo Fei's basket was full of the best chicks.


"Then don't buy from me," Aunt Pang retorted, clearly displeased with Qin Guizhi's attitude.


"That won't do." Qin Guizhi, carefully holding Jiang Bainian's hand, said smugly, "My family Bai Ning is pregnant, and old hens make the best soup for nourishment. I need to buy more for that."


She eyed Luo Fei with a smug look. "Li Yuehua, hasn't it been some time since your second son and Xie Yanqing married? Why haven't they had a baby yet?"


"Yes, they've been married a while and are like honey dripping from a jar," Li Yuehua replied sharply, "Unlike some newlyweds who argue so loudly that the whole village knows."


"Being all lovey-dovey but still no baby? Maybe they can't have one," Qin Guizhi rolled her eyes, tapping Jiang Bainian's hand. "My family Bai Ning is doing great."


"Didn't I tell you that Jiang's family came to take Bai Ning away? That day he was really taken away." Han Xu whispered to Luo Fei. "Then Qin Guizhi figured it wasn't worth letting him go, so she had Zhang Yangfan go back to get him, and they made up. The next day, they said Bai Ning was pregnant. Who knows if that's true."


"You've never seen her today, she keeps bragging to everyone that she's about to become a grandmother."


"I don't want to hear them show off," Luo Fei muttered, handing Aunt Pang the money. "How many do you want, Mom?"


"We'll take twenty too, but eighteen females and two males," Li Yuehua said. "Liu Feng, you pick them out for us."


"Here's the money for Mom's share," Luo Fei added.


"Why are you paying for it, Luo Fei? It's for your mom," Li Yuehua said, feeling uncomfortable.


"Ah, it's just a few coins. It's no big deal, and Xie Yanqing said it was fine," Luo Fei replied, "Aunt Pang, we're leaving now. We're excited to show these little ones their new home. Come visit us when you have time."


"Alright, alright, go ahead. Just make sure to keep them warm for the first five days so they don't catch cold,"Aunt Pang warned.


"Got it! Thanks for the advice!" Luo Fei smiled and nudged Han Xu. "Let's go, we have to check on the little ones."


"Yes, we'll come over tomorrow," Han Xu whispered. "The carpenter will bring the cabinet over tomorrow, it's finished."


"That's great! Come over with him tomorrow, we'll have lunch together," Luo Fei whispered back. "I learned a new recipe, I want you both to try it!"


"Alright, I'll bring him at noon," Han Xu said with a wave. "You go ahead, they’re waiting for you."


The two friends whispered their plans, but Jiang Bainian, who was watching, felt a little frustrated. Why didn't he have such good friends? Whenever he was troubled, he only had Zhang Yangfan's cousin to vent to, but even then, it was still a bit awkward.


As Luo Fei's voice faded, Qin Guizhi sneered and spat, "What is he showing off for? Just because he married some soldier? That person can't even have a child, what’s there to boast about? Eventually, he’ll be sent back!"


She patted Jiang Bainian’s hand, "At least my Bai Ning is doing well, unlike him."


Jiang Baining, however, seemed lost in thought and didn’t react.


Han Xu noticed this and said, “Aunt Qin, as a scholar's mother, shouldn’t you speak with more consideration for your son?”


Qin Guizhi immediately glared at Han Xu. "What do you mean I should be considerate? I’m just speaking the truth! Everyone in the village knows that he can’t have children!"


Han Xu snorted coldly. "They’ve only been married for a month, how could you say that? Maybe they’ll have more kids than anyone else!"


Qin Guizhi scoffed loudly. "Dream on! Him? Whoever marries him is unlucky!"


Han Xu was about to argue further when his mother intervened and stopped him.


"Forget it, don’t argue with this kind of person. When Erbao has a child, she’ll naturally have to keep quiet," said Han Xu’s mother, gently patting his shoulder. "Let’s go now."


At this point, Zhou Damei cast a quiet glance at Jiang Baining, full of doubt, but said nothing.


By this time, Luo Fei had already arrived at the Luo household. He wasn’t quite sure how to take care of the chicks, so he followed along to learn some tips. He mainly didn’t want to accidentally harm the little ones by doing something wrong since they were so cute and fluffy.


Li Yuehua mixed some feed for the chicks and handed it to Luo Fei, giving him a list of things to watch out for. Finally, she took out the money for the chicks and handed it to him.


"Here, take it. When you went to the Xie family, I didn’t give you any pocket money. You should have some on you in case you need it."


Luo Fei resolutely refused. "I told you already, I don’t need it. You keep it. Besides, I’ve been learning some skills with Luo Ru lately. I’m not starving. Don’t worry."


Li Yuehua saw her son’s firm stance and didn’t insist, but she pulled him aside and lowered her voice, asking, "What about children with Xie Yanqing…? When do you two plan on having kids?"


"Children? Oh, kids..." Luo Fei chuckled awkwardly. "We’ll have them when we have them. Who knows when that will be!"


"Don’t be so careless!" Li Yuehua insisted anxiously. "I’ve asked around, and though the color of your flower print is a bit light, it’s nothing to worry about. But you have to think about having children. Xie Yanqing is the only child left in his family. He’s been alone all his life, and for that reason, you should think about it seriously."


"Okay, okay, I got it, Mom," Luo Fei quickly interrupted, not wanting to continue this conversation. "We haven’t even started, so no need to rush."



T/N: Please support myko-fo page for more update🌰🌰🌰



Comments